Have you had a welding machine at your home for years and have been wondering what you’re going to do with it? Are you considering purchasing a welding machine for household repairs but don’t know what method of welding you’re going to use to do them? Well, you have quite a few options, but the most feasible would likely be either spot or seam welding. Both of these forms of welding occur when one applies pressure to both of the pieces of metal that they’re seeking to weld together. Both of these forms of welding are considered resistance welding because of the application of an electric current that is sent through both of the sheets of metal which creates heat; this also fuses the 2 pieces of metal together.
What is Spot Welding?
If you’re looking for a method of welding that will allow you to quickly fuse 2 pieces of metal together spot welding will likely be the process that you’re looking for. It’s typically the welding process that people use if they are considering learning to weld for the first time. Spot welding is a method of welding that uses 2 pieces of copper electrodes which are what are used to generate the heat necessary to begin the weld.
Spot welding is great if you’re seeking to weld pieces of metal between the widths of .5 to 3 mms. Spot welding is also typically used to weld sheet metal and wire mesh. The great thing about the process is that it doesn’t require a shielding gas for it to work. On top of that you can use either a special Spot welding machine – we have a guide for them here – or you can use a MIG welder that’s equipped with a kit.
Video credits to Pro Spot International. It discusses the resistance spot welding process.
What are the advantages of spot welding?
Spot welding yields a number of benefits to those who decide to perform it. Lifted below are a few of the benefits of spot welding.
- It’s one of the most efficient platforms for welding small pieces of metal to one another.
- Doesn’t require filler metal or fluxes.
- Doesn’t take a lot of time to learn nor does it require an profound understanding of the activity to perform.
- Welders don’t use open flames in spot welding.
- Spot welding can weld pieces of metal that are as thin as .25 inches thick.
- Spot welding can be used to weld metals through both a manual and automatic method.
- Spot welding can weld multiple metals at a single time.
What are the disadvantages of spot welding?
Nothing that yields an advantage neglects to yield a disadvantage (that’s a truth of life). Spot welding is no exception. Below are a few disadvantages native to spot welding.
- You’ll need to use a different form of welding for thicker metals because it works best with thin metals.
- Some metals must be specially prepared to make sure the spot welds are successful.
- Produces weak welds
Where is spot welding used?
Spot welding is typically used in a number of industries including aerospace, white goods, rail, metal furniture, automotive, electronics, medical building, and construction. It’s commonly used in places that require high automation since it’s very easy to combine it with robots and manipulation systems.
What is Seam Welding?
If you want to weld small spots but still want to produce sturdy welds seam welding is probably the best route for you to take. A seam weld is produced when both heat and pressure are applied to a joint on 2 pieces of metal. The 2 common types of seam welds are Fillet and Butt Joint welds.
Seam welds use rotating electrodes which are the primary ingredient in producing the solid rolling resistance weld. A cool thing about seam welding is that it can be done with both TIG and MIG welding machines. Despite of it being known for being used for smaller surface areas, it’s also great for when you want to weld large pieces of metal.
Video credits to TechTrixInfo. It goes over how seam welding works.
What are the advantages of seam welding?
Seam welding also yields several benefits such as those listed below:
- It produces much less overlap than spot welding does
- Seam welding produces welds at incredibly fast speeds and, because it’s entirely automatic is much faster than spot welding.
- Seam welding doesn’t require the use of flux or filler material.
- Seam welding produces airtight and watertight seals. The benefit of this is that it helps to create metal structures that need either air or water leakage protection.
What are disadvantages of seam welding?
- You can only weld in straight lines and uniformly curved lines when you’re seam welding
- Seam welding can be a challenge when what you’re welding is too thick (it can be a pain to seam weld when you’re welding a single sheet that’s more than 3 mm thick).
Where is seam welding used?
Seam welding also finds itself being used in a number of areas. For example, seam welding is sometimes used in places that require air-tight seals such as in the assembly of fuel tanks. Seam welding is also used to weld pipes and tubes because it doesn’t use any fusion metals which means there are no weld beads that may ruin the aesthetics of the pipes / tubes.
Seam welding is also used to manufacture sheet metal tanks to contain gasoline, kerosene, and other fluids.
What’s the difference between spot welding and seam welding?
Spot welding is better utilized for welding materials that’re smaller and are overlapping. Spot welding has a manual mode while seam welding does not. Seam welding is great for welds that need an air-tight seal (remember that spot welds tend to not be the best overall. It’s also great for welds that must be continually done such as for placing strings of spot welds.
